Han Solo ANH Blaster From RIA, Prev on Pawn Stars

[kpax]

Look the thumbnuts are flat like the hero thumbnuts! The Sweeney/RH one uses those countersunk ones, or the same ones flipped

Looks like the flat HERO nuts in the side view for sure. Not sure tho. The front view looks a little iffy. couldn't get a sharp screen grab. Not the same "exact" markings unfortunately. Could have been refinished. ?

No real help for the timeline of Mausers leading up to SW since this was produced AFTER SW. But could mean the lower survived another year...

 

[kpax]

So Roger refers to it as spotting a Mauser DL-44. ( )

He says he adjusted the bolts on the "sight". I assume he means the scope rings? The ring placement was changed from ST to SW. On ST the rings were in either side of the knob. He must have moved them to the rear at that time? Made it safe?

He and Carl probably have a fuzzy recollection of how it all happened. They were likely playing around together trying different things and ended up with the preproduction version. As each tells the story they naturally become the central character.

Still must have had left side mount at that time tho due to the MerrSonn evidence.

He says they had another c96 for Luke "but with different add-on pieces" and used in ESB.

As said above. No mention of backups for Han's DL44.

 

[Tommy]

Some insights like how CKarl was basically a helping hand

So did Roger or Carl build the gun?!

Just putting two and two together:

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

So did Roger or Carl build the gun?!

From my understanding Lucas hired Roger to create the props including Solo’s Blaster. From there he went to Bapty Co. and Peter opened his shop to him to do as he pleased. KCarl worked there and was assisting him as needed. ?

 

[thd9791]

Thanks this is a good conversation. Honestly if they built it together I would think a good story would include the person at the workbench with him. Odd talking about it like it was all one person lol

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

“That’s Han with his DL-44 Heavy Blaster pistol…”

Can the media please do SOME research?

To be fair I think that about sums it all up. Han Solo’s DL-44/E11 blaster from ANH. Infact maybe when it goes back to auction they can use that video to show its authenticity off.

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

Thanks this is a good conversation. Honestly if they built it together I would think a good story would include the person at the workbench with him. Odd talking about it like it was all one person lol

U mean from Rogers perspective not KCarl’s correct? Or the other way around?

Well Roger was official hired by LucasFilm to do this. KCarl was not. KCarl simply worked at Bapty and Roger took his business to them. So for all intents and purposes.. Roger did do it by himself. How much credit should we give to the babty assistant who test fired it? Kidding of course!

Peter Bapty has passed away I believe. So Tony went to KCarl who might be the last man standing who was actually there when the blaster was being made that has ties to Bapty. And we now see how that turned out..

 

[thd9791]

U mean from Rogers perspective not KCarl’s correct? Or the other way around?

Well Roger was official hired by LucasFilm to do this. KCarl was not. KCarl simply worked at Bapty and Roger took his business to them. So for all intents and purposes.. Roger did do it by himself. How much credit should we give to the babty assistant who test fired it? Kidding of course!

Peter Bapty has passed away I believe. So Tony went to KCarl who might be the last man standing who was actually there when the blaster was being made that has ties to Bapty. And we now see how that turned out..

Good points. I honestly meant both. Carl was the guy that popped in on Pawn Stars right? He spoke (If I remember correctly) mostly about pleasing George, and he would go fix it or do something and bring it back to George. Roger also talked about it as if he alone sat there with gun parts and did it himself and went to George.

 

[robstyle]

When referring to Pawn Stars just keep in mind it's a for entertainment purposes television series. It's edited and presented to capture and keep one's attention. Dialog may have been delivered, edited, altered or cohersed as needed to tell the quickest and most basic story for the average viewer. It's not a documentary or, as much as it's claimed to be by those on the show, it's not a historically accurate account of events.

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

Good points. I honestly meant both. Carl was the guy that popped in on Pawn Stars right? He spoke (If I remember correctly) mostly about pleasing George, and he would go fix it or do something and bring it back to George. Roger also talked about it as if he alone sat there with gun parts and did it himself and went to George.

I’m basically throwing comments in from the cheap seats. But the math does seem to add up for what it’s worth. Who really knows right??

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

When referring to Pawn Stars just keep in mind it's a for entertainment purposes television series. It's edited and presented to capture and keep one's attention. Dialog may have been delivered, edited, altered or cohersed as needed to tell the quickest and most basic story for the average viewer. It's not a documentary or, as much as it's claimed to be by those on the show, it's not a historically accurate account of events.

Ya ur 100% right. Remember they also look at this exact pic and say on camera the serial numbers match up. Which we know is 100% false..

 

[David3]

Hmm.. when Rick (the PawnStars guy) says "the serial number's right there" the scene is then edited with a photo of the original screen used prop with him then saying "everything matches up perfect", so we are led to believe he is referring to the numbers but because of the edit in that moment we really don't know in which context that last sentence of 'everything' matching up was actually said or if he was even referring to serial numbers when he said it.

We just don't see that visual continuity of his mouth actually mouthing the words in one sentence "the serial numbers right there - everything matches up perfect".

Just smacks to me of two separate sentences 'Frankensteined' together (much like the blaster itself) with the old classic 'slight-of-hand' missdirected switcheroo in the editing process.

 

[robstyle]

Pawn Stars along with other reality based shows do the dialog and editing tricks, scripted story, I know a guy things to keep it all short and simple. The pawn stars show had been, for lack of any better term, exposed in its reality many times before. Instances range from an item in question being supplied by the I know a guy specialist themselves, museums or historical societies supplying the items and an items script. Pawn Stars, last I had heard, offers an opportunity to appear on the show at sag scale rate. No hotel or perdium, no transportation or air fare. In return you get exposure for the item and the appearance. There is also the rental opportunity where a show does just that, they rent an item to be used on a show. I know storage wars did this on a regular basis as I helped source items for them a few times. Going a little ways back with Hollywood Treasure I did an appearance on that show with some iconic Jackie Chan, iconic Rush Hour, iconic GI Joe, iconic Terminator and iconic POTC items. I was not paid or offered any compensation but it was also cut and never aired. That is proof real world reality TV spots exist.

 

[deadbolt]

It's funny how it's called 'Reality' T.V. too.. It never really has been, even back when it all started. It's always been rigged in some way. I was a little kid when 'The Real World' on MTV started, and even then, all I could do is roll my eyes at it. The closest that I saw that ever came close to 'Reality T.V.' for a number of years was Big Brother..sadly not anymore though. I actually liked that one up until recent years, too much editing and censorship now, thus making it as fake as the rest.

Just the fact that this so-called prop was first revealed on such a show, shows just how fake it really is.


-Carson

 

[Halliwax]

Knowing people who work in the “reality” field I can tell ya, there is nothing real about reality shows

 

[kpax]

Yep.

The fact that Rick didn’t haggle or make an offer at all kind of says it all. His expert wasn’t very enthusiastic.

They knew.

Maybe the producers have final edit but it was very misleading.

 

[chubsANDdoggers]

The only thing that’s really happening live in the tv world at any given time is sports. It’s the only real true reality tv. Scandals aside and even then it’s still really happening.. live. Maybe the news if things go wrong but it’s scripted and controlled 99.9% of the time even when it’s live.

As kpax mentioned above it’s was very misleading. Most here I think saw through it but sadly someone did not and it eventually cost him a million.

 

[Tommy]

While I think everybody here understands that reality TV is often manipulated, I would submit that the Pawn Stars appearance still lends substantial value to this appraisal of RIA’s claims. Regarding the implied serial number match, it’s been dismissed already as pretty definitely a creative edit on the part of the producers. I certainly wouldn’t put any stock in statements made by the hosts anyway, and I don't think anyone here has, other than to say what has been said – Pawn Stars made a misleading presentation.

But there are other aspects of the episode with non-impossible, but at least non-apparent manipulation:

- Tony admits that Bapty does not retain associated paperwork, ruling that out as potential behind-the-scenes evidence.
- Tony points at the production photo of the blaster’s left side (opposite the mount) and claims visible witness marks, contrary to RIA’s claim that they were solely beneath the mount. [I know the theory of a different mystery photo has been floated – I’ll believe it when I see it or someone I trust has.]
- Tony and Carl speak of the DL-44 only in singular terms, showing that the three-hero story did not debut publicly until the present auction.
- Carl states that he did not need to cut any Mauser barrel for ANH because he already had four such guns at his disposal from previous productions, highlighting that a cut barrel doesn’t necessarily indicate ANH.

One might argue that Tony could have been fed scripted lines, but I can’t imagine that was the case with Carl… Maybe Carl’s dialog was trimmed down – conceivably he might have credited Roger Christian in a cut portion, for instance. Yet his phrasing is so awkward, it doesn’t feel like it was written for him. In any case, they’re unfortunately the only interviews with the two men we seem to have. I don’t think RIA could legitimately blame us for noting discrepancies when that's all we have available to go on.

So it absolutely should be kept in mind that this was a reality TV appearance, and individual elements ought to be taken with more or less of a grain of salt. But I still think it retains a fair amount of evidential value for this discussion despite the obvious drawbacks.

 

[thd9791]

Thank you - I know I don’t write much but that’s exactly what my point was. It’s obviously reality TV but that part with Carl was much more impromptu, I think he even asked if what he said worked right before leaving.

 

[Tommy]

Alright pack it in, folks… I found the mystery photo: